The Northern Yuan was a dynastic state ruled by the Mongol Borjigin clan based in the Mongolian Plateau. It existed as a rump state after the collapse of the Yuan dynasty in 1368 and lasted until its conquest by the Jurchen-led Later Jin dynasty in 1635, which was later renamed as the Qing dynasty. The Northern Yuan dynasty began with the retreat of the Yuan imperial court led by Toghon Temür (Emperor Huizong of Yuan) to the Mongolian steppe. This period featured factional struggles and the often only nominal role of the Great Khan.
Dayan Khan and Mandukhai Khatun reunited most Mongol tribes in the late 15th century. However, the former's distribution of his empire among his sons and relatives as fiefs caused the decentralization of the imperial rule. Despite this decentralization, a remarkable concord continued within the Dayan Khanid aristocracy, and intra-Chinggisid civil war remained unknown until the reign of Ligdan Khan (1604–1634), who saw much of his power weakened in his quarrels with the Mongol tribes and was defeated by the Later Jin dynasty. The last sixty years of this period featured the intensive penetration of Tibetan Buddhism into Mongol society.
The name "Northern Yuan" is a historiographical naming convention for convenience. The dynastic name "Great Yuan" was abandoned by the Jorightu Khan Yesüder in 1388, however certain Mongol leaders continued to evoke the name of Great Yuan on occasion up to the early 17th century.
Name
The regime that existed between 1368 and 1635 is known by various names, including the Northern Yuan (dynasty). The dynastic name of "Great Yuan'" (Chinese: 大元; pinyin: Dà Yuán) was officially used between 1368 and 1388, as was the preceding Yuan dynasty. Following the death of Uskhal Khan Tögüs Temür, the "Great Yuan" dynastic name along with other Han-style imperial titles were abandoned by his successor Jorightu Khan Yesüder; hence, the name "Northern Yuan" is sometimes limited in its usage to referencing only the period between 1368 and 1388. The historiographical term "Northern Yuan" in the English language is derived from the corresponding term "北元" (Běi Yuán) in the Chinese language, in which the prefix "Northern" is used to distinguish between the Yuan dynasty established in 1271 and the regime that existed after 1368. The historiographical name "Northern Yuan" first appeared in the Korean historical text Goryeosa written in Classical Chinese. Some scholars believe that the reign of Dayan Khan whose regnal name "Dayan" came from the Chinese term "大元" (Dà Yuán; lit. "Great Yuan"). Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that Taisun Khan, Esen Taishi, Manduul Khan, and Ligdan Khan had also used the "Great Yuan" dynastic name and Han-style imperial titles during their rule up to the early 17th century.
In English, the term "Northern Yuan (dynasty)" is generally used to cover the entire period from 1368 to 1635 for historiographical purpose. Apart from "Great Yuan" (before 1388 and during the rule of certain leaders like Esen Taishi), the Mongols called their regime "Yeke Mongghol Ulus", the Mongolian term meaning the "Great Mongol State". It is also referred to as "Post-Imperial Mongolia", the "Mongol(ian) Khaganate", or the "Mongol(ian) Khanate" in some modern sources, although most of these English terms can also refer to the Mongol Empire or the Yuan dynasty in the 13th and the 14th centuries.
In chronicles written in the Mongolian language, this period is also known as "The Forty and the Four" (Döchin Dörben), meaning forty tümen of Eastern Mongols and four tümen of Western Mongols. Mongolian historiography also uses the term "Period of political disunion", "Period of small khagans", "Mongolia's period of political disruption" and "Mongolia's 14th–17th century", etc. The Chinese Ming dynasty called them "Tatar" (Chinese: 鞑靼; pinyin: Dádá) and "Wala" (Oirats, Chinese: 瓦剌; pinyin: Wǎlà) after the Mongols were divided into eastern and western parts.
History
Origin
The Northern Yuan dynasty was the remnant of the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) founded by Kublai Khan. After eliminating the Song dynasty in 1279, the Yuan dynasty ruled all of China proper for about a century. Even prior to the Yuan dynasty, the Mongols had ruled Northern China for more than 40 years, since the time they conquered the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty in 1234.
Yuan rule in China proper began to collapse in 1344 when the Yellow River flooded and changed course, causing widespread droughts, flooding, and making the Grand Canal impassable. In 1351, the Red Turban Rebellion erupted in the Huai River valley, which saw the rise of Zhu Yuanzhang, a Han peasant, who eventually established the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) in southern China. In 1368, a Ming army advanced on the Yuan capital Khanbaliq or Dadu (present-day Beijing).
Retreat to Mongolian Steppe (1368–1388)
Toghon Temür (r. 1333–1370), the last ruler of the Yuan, fled north to Shangdu (located in present-day Inner Mongolia) from Dadu upon the approach of Ming forces. He tried to regain Dadu but failed and died in Yingchang (located in present-day Inner Mongolia) two years later (1370). Yingchang was seized by the Ming shortly after his death.
The Mongols retreated to Karakorum in the Mongol heartland after the fall of Yingchang in 1370, where they maintained the official dynastic title "Great Yuan", known retroactively as the "Northern Yuan". The Ming army pursued the Yuan remnants into the Mongolian steppe in 1372 but was defeated by Biligtü Khan Ayushiridara (r. 1370–1378) and his general Köke Temür (d. 1375). In 1375, Naghachu, a Mongol official of Biligtu Khan in Liaoyang province invaded Liaodong with the aim of restoring Mongol power in China proper. Although he continued to hold southern Manchuria, Naghachu eventually surrendered to the Ming dynasty in 1387–88. The Yuan loyalists under the Kublaid prince Basalawarmi (the Prince of Liang) in Yunnan and Guizhou were also defeated and killed by the Ming earlier in 1381–82.
In 1380, the Ming invaded Northern Yuan and sacked Karakorum, although they were eventually forced to withdraw. Around 70,000 Mongol captives were taken. In 1387, the Ming defeated the Uriankhai Mongols, and in the following year they achieved decisive victory around the Buir Lake against Uskhal Khan Tögüs Temür. The defeat of Uskhal Khan effectively shattered Yuan power in the steppes and allowed the Western Oirat Mongols to rise and become the kingmakers of the Northern Yuan realm.
The Genghisid (Major descendants of Kublai) rulers of the Northern Yuan also buttressed their claim on China, and held tenaciously to the title of Emperor (or Great Khan) of the Great Yuan (Dai Yuwan Khaan, or 大元可汗) to resist the Ming, who had by this time become the true rulers of China proper. According to the traditional Chinese political orthodoxy, there could be only one legitimate dynasty whose rulers were blessed by Heaven to rule as Emperor of China (see Mandate of Heaven), so the Ming also denied the Yuan remnants' legitimacy as emperors of China, although the Ming did consider the previous Yuan which it had succeeded to be a legitimate dynasty.
Oirat domination (1388–1478)
In 1388, the Mongol throne was taken over by Jorightu Khan Yesüder, a descendant of Ariq Böke (Tolui's son), with the support of the Oirats. He abolished the Han-style title of the former Yuan dynasty. In the following year, one of Uskhal Khan's subjects, Gunashiri, a descendant of Chagatai Khan, founded his own small state called Kara Del in Hami.
The following century saw a succession of Genghisid rulers, many of whom were mere figureheads put on the throne by those warlords who happened to be the most powerful. From the end of the 14th century there appear designations such as "period of small kings" (Бага хаадын үе). On one side stood the Western Mongols and on the other the Eastern Mongols. While the Oirats drew their khans from the descendants of Ariq Böke and other princes, Arugtai of the Asud supported the old Yuan khans of Kublaid descent. The House of Ogedei also briefly attempted to reunite the Mongols under their rule.
The Mongols eventually split into three main groups: the Oirats in the west, the Uriankhai in northeast, and the Khorchin between the two. The Uriankhai surrendered to the Ming dynasty in the 1390s. The Ming divided them into the Three Guards: Doyin, Tai'nin and Fuyu.
Mongol relations with the Ming dynasty consisted of sporadic bursts of conflict intermingled with periods of peaceful relations and border trade. The Oirat-backed Örüg Temür Khan (Gulichi) was defeated by Elbeg Khan's son Öljei Temür Khan (Bunyashiri, r. 1408–1412), the protégé of Tamerlane (d. 1405), in 1403. Most of the Mongol noblemen under Arugtai chingsang sided with Öljei Temur. The Yongle Emperor (r. 1402–1424) issued Öljei Temür an ultimatum demanding his acceptance of tributary relations to the Ming dynasty. Öljei Temur refused, resulting in the Ming dynasty conducting several campaigns against the Mongols. In 1409, a Ming army of 100,000 entered Mongolia but suffered a defeat against Öljei Temur and Arugtai at the Battle of Kherlen. In the following year, the Yongle Emperor personally led an expedition into Mongolia and defeated the Mongols. After the death of Öljei Temur, the Oirats under their leader Bahamu (Mahmud) (d. 1417) enthroned an Ariq Bökid Delbeg Khan in 1412. Originally the Ming had supported the Oirats in their power struggle with the eastern Mongols, but as the Oirats gained supremacy over them, the Ming withdrew their support.
By 1422, Arugtai turned hostile again as the Ming did not grant him the trading privileges he wanted, and Yongle campaigned against him in 1422 and 1423. Bahamu's successor Toghan pushed Arugtai east of the Greater Khingan range in 1433. The Oirats killed him in the west of Baotou the next year. Arugtai's ally Adai Khan (r. 1425–1438) made a last stand in Ejin before he was murdered too.
Toghan died in the very year of his victory over Adai. His son Esen Taishi (r. 1438–1454) brought the Oirats to the height of their power. Under his puppet khans, he drove back Moghulistan and crushed the Uriankhai Three Guards, Kara Del and the Jurchens. In 1449 he defeated a 500,000 strong Ming army and captured the Zhengtong Emperor in what came to be known as the Tumu Crisis. However, after this astounding victory, Esen failed to take the Ming capital of Beijing. In the following year a peace was concluded between the two sides and the captive emperor was allowed to return home. After executing the rebellious Tayisung Khan (r. 1433–1453) and his brother Agbarjin in 1453, Esen took the title of not just khan, but also Yuan Emperor. This caused widespread dissent among the Genghisids, and in 1455, a series of revolts resulted in Esen's death. His death started the decline of the Oirats, who would not recover until their rise as the Dzungar Khanate in the 17th century.
From Esen's death to 1481 different warlords of the Kharchin, the Belguteids and Ordos Mongols fought over succession and had their Genghisid khans enthroned. The Mongolian chroniclers call some of them the Uyghurs and they might have had some ties with the Hami oasis. During his reign, Manduulun Khan (1475–1478) effectively won over most of the Mongol warlords before he died in 1478.
Restoration (1479–1600)
Second reunification
Manduulun's young khatun Mandukhai proclaimed a seven-year-old boy named Batumongke of Genghisid descent as khan. Mandukhai made persistent efforts to bring the various Mongol tribes under control. The new khan took the title Dayan meaning "the whole" or “Great Yuan” (大元; "Da Yuan"). Mandukhai and Dayan Khan defeated the Oirats and the taishis who ruled the Yellow River Mongols. However, one of them killed Dayan Khan's son and revolted when Dayan Khan appointed his son, Ulusbold, as jinong (crown prince) over them. Dayan Khan finally defeated the southwestern Mongols in 1510 with the assistance of his allies, Unebolad wang and the Four Oirats.
From 1495 onward, Dayan exerted pressure on the Ming dynasty, which closed border-trade and killed his envoys. Dayan invaded Ming territory and subjugated the Uriankhai Three Guards, who had previously submitted to the Ming. As a result, the Tümed Mongols ruled in the Ordos region and they gradually extended their domain into northeastern Qinghai. In 1517, Dayan even threatened Beijing itself. Mongol armies raided the Ming dynasty not only in the north but also in the hitherto quiet west. The Ming dynasty lost Kara Del as a protectorate to the Turpan Khanate at the same time. Dayan kept defeating the Ming in battle right up until his death in 1543. At the apogee of Dayan's reign, the Northern Yuan stretched from the Siberian tundra and Lake Baikal in the north, across the Gobi, to the edge of the Yellow River and south of it into the Ordos. The lands extended from the forests of Manchuria in the East past the Altai Mountains and out onto the steppes of Central Asia.
Dayan Khan's reorganization of the Mongols into six Eastern Mongol tümens (literally "ten thousand") and four Oirats tümens had far-reaching effects on the development of Mongol society.